


Walking Together into a New Destiny

by Ignie, Mystikelh



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Brotherhood, Gen, Headcanon Used: Ienzo considered the other apprentices (especially Aeleus and Even) as his family, Headcanon Used: Lea and Isa were used as test subjects by the apprentices, Minor Kingdom Hearts 3 spoilers, Post-Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-18
Updated: 2019-07-11
Packaged: 2019-10-30 17:36:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17833085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ignie/pseuds/Ignie, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mystikelh/pseuds/Mystikelh
Summary: It took him a moment to notice the sound of rustling leaves and singing birds. No more earthquakes, no more menacing thunder. Lea slowly opened his eyes, blinded for a moment by the light. The monsters were gone. So were the castle and the city, as well as the dark clouds in the sky. Instead, the warm orange light of the setting sun was shining through the dancing leaves of the forest before them.Ienzo poked his head out of his arms. “Where are we?” he asked.“I have no idea,” he responded, letting his breath out of his burning lungs.





	1. The Slip of Fate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fanfiction is kind of a self-indulgent piece from us. Our favorite characters are Lea and Ienzo, and we came up together with this AU that I decided to write for fun. If you enjoy the idea too, then we'll be happy to share more of it!
> 
> Written by: Mystikelh

It was only fear and survival instinct that drove him as he dug his hands until they bled into the sharp edges of the strange blade that was mere inches from his chest. The adrenaline was giving him some hidden strength to push back against the unknown weapon.

Lea looked up at his assailant – Xehanort – with eyes filled with terror and confusion. Why? Why was he doing this?! Didn't he make them suffer enough? Had they gotten bored and decided to get rid of them? His eyes landed on the other side of the previously locked cell door. On the other side of the hallway, beyond another door, Isa lied on the ground with a cross-shaped cut on his face, eyes wide but lifeless as his body slowly faded into smoky shadows.

Isa was dead.

He had heard a ruckus and the screams of his friend a few moments before Xehanort had walked into his cell, this strange weapon in hand. Now it was his turn. He was going to die too. The man was much stronger than him. His golden eyes were shining with coldness as his weapon was getting closer to plunge into his chest. Blood was dripping from his hands, making his hold on the now glowing blade more and more slippery. Lea could feel himself suffocate. He was terrified. He didn't want to die. Please, he didn't want to die!

A sudden tremor shook the entire castle, surprising both of them. Lea slipped and fell to the ground, the blade cutting into the floor right next to him – luckily missing him – and the glow coming from it faded away. Xehanort had fallen to one knee, clutching his weapon in his hands. Quickly, without thinking, Lea ran past him and into the hallway. He spared one last glance to his best friend's fading corpse before bolting toward the direction of the laboratory that would lead him back to the upper levels. A trail of droplets of blood followed him.

As he reached the main area of the lab, he was greeted by another sight. It was Even, the other scientist, laying down on the floor, his body also slowly fading away. Had Xehanort killed him too? Had he gone completely insane and killed his fellow scientist? Lea couldn't say he was really saddened by that. He hated the man with a burning passion. All the things they did to him, to Isa, and probably to that girl. Those awful experiments. Good riddance!

A small cry brought his attention to the other side of the room, where the exit was. A little boy with a white lab coat was standing there, horrified, as if he had just walked in on the scene. His eyes went from the scientist on the ground, to him, and to the scientist again.

“It wasn't me!” Lea heard himself blurt out. “It was Xehanort!”

Xehanort!

Lea turned around with fear. Surely, the man would come after him! He couldn't see him, yet, but it was a question of seconds! Quickly again, Lea ran toward the other side and grabbed the boy – his name was Ienzo, he remembered – like a potato bag and kept running despite the protest of the child. He was one of them, but no way he was letting a kid get murdered!

“Let me go! Even! Even!!” Ienzo cried out, struggling in his grip.

“It's too late! We need to get out of here!” Lea said, never slowing down.

Another earthquake shook the castle, forcing him to stop to not fall flat on his face. The younger boy gripped the leather on his back tightly.

“W-What is happening?” he asked, fear in his voice.

“You tell me! That crazy fucker just murdered Isa and tried to kill me! And apparently, he killed that Even guy too!”

“B-But Xehanort is--”

He was interrupted by another tremor, this time much stronger. The ceiling started to crack and pieces fell around them.

“We need to get out of here, first!” Lea said with renewing determination. He had to get out. He wouldn't die. He refused to die. He would get to his family, and expose everything that happened down here.

The small kid had stopped struggling to instead clutch his coat with shaky hands. From the corner of his eye, he could see the white fabric of his lab coat getting slowly tainted in red from his bleeding palms. He ran through the castle, blessing the fact that he and Isa had memorized the whole layout during their forbidden explorations. The whole place was coming down, though, and he had to take multiple detours to avoid crumbling structures. By the time they made it to the entrance hall, he was completely out of breath and his legs were burning. But he couldn't stop now. He was so close! He was free! He was--

As they burst through the main door, Lea froze dead in his track. An abyss of darkness had opened up right in front of the entrance, dark winds blowing out of it. On the other side, the whole city was the same, breaking into pieces and getting engulfed by the darkness. Even the sky had become stormy, dark murky clouds spewing unnatural bolts of lightning. What happened to the city?! What the hell was going on?! The city… The people… His family…

The boy in his arms pushed himself upright on his shoulder and turned around to look too. He heard a strangled gasp and small fingers dug into his shoulder. A wave of nausea was overcoming Lea. Everything was getting destroyed. There was no more escape from this hellish castle. Was this Xehanort's doing, too?! How?! This was too much for him. He just wanted to go home! To see his mom, his dad, even his dumb brother! Please!

But the Gods were really determined to make him suffer as shadows started to dance around them, creating little creatures with yellow eyes and bouncy antennas.

“Heartless!” he heard Ienzo whisper.

Lea was very familiar with those creatures. They were the things that the two scientists kept experimenting with. Monsters of darkness, or something like that. They were very aggressive, and he had heard that they had killed some people, previously. And now, they were their targets. The creatures were coming closer, and Lea backed away.

“G-Get away from us!” he yelled hopelessly.

His foot caught on a piece of rubble and he fell to the ground. His legs had gotten weak, unable to find the strength to get back up. It would have been pointless, anyway, as they were cornered. Lea hugged the boy close to him, shielding him with his body. He felt every tremor coming from the child who was clutching at him tightly, face buried deep in his chest. The Heartless slowly stalked closer, making the terrifying moment last longer. Lea closed his eyes and held his breath. He didn't want to die! He had escaped! He wanted to be safe! It didn't matter where he just wanted to be far away from here!!

…

It took him a moment to notice the sound of rustling leaves and singing birds. No more earthquakes, no more menacing thunder. Lea slowly opened his eyes, blinded for a moment by the light. The monsters were gone. So were the castle and the city, as well as the dark clouds in the sky. Instead, the warm orange light of the setting sun was shining through the dancing leaves of the forest before them.

Ienzo poked his head out of his arms. “Where are we?” he asked.

“I have no idea,” he responded, letting his breath out of his burning lungs.  
  
Lea turned his head the other way, looking behind them. He was greeted by a fenced gate and a huge mansion. Forcing himself on his trembling feet, he turned fully toward the gate. The younger boy stood up too next to him, looking up at the gates.

“This isn't Radiant Garden,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Lea nodded, his brows furrowed. “...Yeah, I don't recognize that place.”

How did they get here? Only a moment ago, they were at the mercy of those Heartless, and Radiant Garden was falling apart. And now they were here… In front of this mansion in the woods…

“What do we do?” the small boy asked, looking at him with worry. His eyes traveled down. “You're bleeding.”

Lea closed his fists, putting pressure on his wounds. “Don't worry about it. First, we need to find help.” He walked closer to the gate and yelled, “HEEYY!! SOMEBODY?! WE NEED HELP!! PLEASE!!”

He waited for a moment, expecting somebody to walk out or something. But nothing.

“I don't think this place is inhabited,” Ienzo said. He still spoke very softly, keeping his voice low. He always had been a silent child. “Everything is overgrown like it has been abandoned for a long time.”

He groaned. “Now what do we do?”

The child looked behind them. “Maybe we can find people on the other side of those woods? There wouldn't be a mansion here without a town.”

Lea shook his head. “Yeah, but we have no idea where to go. What if we get lost? We could go in the wrong direction and never find anybody."

The boy opened his mouth, but closed it again, finding no argument to this.

Lea looked at the mansion again. “...Well if it's abandoned, nobody would mind if we got in, right?”

“I guess not...”

Ignoring his bleeding palms, Lea approached the gate and started to shake it. Locked. Of course…

“Looks like we have no other choice than climb over the gate,” he said, putting his foot on a bar and pushing himself up.

Ienzo looked hesitant. “Climb? I don't know how to climb.”

He looked down at him incredulously. “You never climbed up trees? Or the monkey bars on the school's playground?”

The other boy shook his head.

Lea sighed, looking up at the gate. He doubted he could drag him over the gate. Not with is already painful hands.

He looked back down at Ienzo, shaking slightly his head. “Fine. Just stay here. I'll go check if I can open the gate from the other side.”

The child nodded, clutching his hands together nervously. Trying to give him a reassuring smile, Lea kept climbing until he was at the top of the fence and jumped down on the other side. His landing wasn't graceful, almost eating a spoonful of dirt as he crumbled to the ground. At least he avoided getting dirt all over his open wounds.

“Are you okay?” he heard Ienzo ask worryingly behind him.

“Yeah. Just peachy,” he grumbled, getting to his feet.

He slowly approached the manor, staying cautious. This place had a haunted mansion kind of feel with the broken down pillars on each side and the weeds growing on every surface. The windows were dusty, but not broken despite the few cracks here and there. He stopped in front of the door and looked back. Ienzo was still standing there, watching him carefully. He smiled at him again and turned back, putting his hand on the doorknob. He shook it roughly, but it didn't open. Locked. Again. This time he couldn't just pass over it, he had to find a way to unlock the door. Maybe he could bust it open or something? He wasn't very strong, though. If only he had a key…

There was a startled gasp behind him and… “Lea! In your hand!”

He turned around toward the other boy, confused, then looked down at his hands. He felt his whole body jump in surprise at the sight of a large item in his right hand. It had a flame design and the handle kinda resembled his favorite frisbees, even including the Bomb print that was on them. There was a little chain of flames dangling off the handle, with a bigger flame key chain at the end.

“What the hell is that?!” he cried out.

Ienzo was almost bouncing. “It's a keyblade!”

Lea raised an eyebrow. “A key-what?!”

“A keyblade! It's a magical weapon! Master--” the boy's expression suddenly saddened. “Ansem the Wise told me about them...”

Lea's jaw became rigid as he pressed his lips into a thin line. Ansem the Wise was like a father to Ienzo from what he had observed. But one day the others just told him, Isa and Ienzo that he had gone mad and left them. After that things got worse... Much worse... He and Isa had become apprentices to Ansem the Wise to save that girl they met in the dungeon-like area under the castle. But after he left, Xehanort took the lead and decided he didn't want them as apprentices, but as lab rats. And so they continued their experiments on the heart and darkness using them…

“So… What does that key thing do?” he asked, trying to chase away the darker thoughts.

“I am not sure. But it's a magic key. Maybe you could unlock the door?”

Lea looked down at the keyblade in his hand, inspecting it. He had no idea how it even got there, to begin with. Maybe it wanted to help them, as dumb as it sounds. Well if anything could unlock this door it would be a giant magical key.

“Fine, let's see.” He lifted the big key and pushed the tip against the small lock. “Um… Open? ...Unlock?” Nothing happened. He turned around and shrugged at Ienzo, before turning back to the door. He huffed and lightly tapped the lock with it.

Click.

Lea's eyes widen. He lowered the keyblade and reached the doorknob with his other hand. Holding his breath, he turned it and the door slowly opened with a loud creaking noise. It worked…

“Holy shit!” he exclaimed with a huge smile. He turned around, grinning at the other boy. “You were right!”

A small shy smile appeared on Ienzo's face.

“Wait! I can unlock the gate, then!” he said, running back to the black iron door.  
He tapped the gate's lock twice and, fair enough, the lock clicked. Lea pulled the gate open and the boy walked in the courtyard.

Excited and proud, Lea lifted his hand up. “Aw yeah! High five!”

Ienzo just stared back at him with a neutral expression. “Your hand is covered in blood.”

He looked back at his palm. “Oh. Yeah. Right. Sorry.”

The young boy sighed and reached for the end of his lab coat, pulling on it until it ripped in strands.

"W-What are you doing?!" he asked, surprised by the younger one's action.

"We need to stop you from bleeding out. Give me your hands."

Lea did as he was told. As he was thinking of putting down the keyblade he was holding, the giant key magically disappeared in a flash of flames. Both boys stared at each other for a moment in complete surprise but then decided to brush it off for now. The magical key's appearance and disappearance were the least of their concerns at the moment. The younger boy used one strand to clean up the blood a little, then he used two more to tightly wrap his hands so it would put pressure and stop blood from flowing out. This wasn't ideal, but it was better than nothing.

"Sorry for your coat," he said sheepishly.

Ienzo shrugged. "It's just a coat…"

"Yeah..." He turned toward back toward the manor. "Let's go inside."

Everything was dark inside, the only light was from sunlight coming through the windows. The foyer was decorated with all kind of stuff, but most of them had crumbled or fell off. There were two staircases on each side that climbed to the upper level and a big glass door opposite from the entrance that led to the backyard.

“This place looks nice...” He commented, taking a look at everything.

Well, it would look nice if it wasn't so dusty. Just walking around left imprints of their shoes on the dust covered floor. But since it had been abandoned for so long…

"It's a bit creepy," Ienzo said, grabbing his sleeve tightly.

"Yeah. It's definitely abandoned. But let's check around a bit. Maybe we can find something to help. Like a map."

The started by looking at the doors on the first floor. The door on the left lead to some kind of dining room with a table in the middle, a thick layer of dust over it. Another door connected to this room led in a kitchen. It was a pretty old kitchen, and nothing looked like it was functional. Guess that place was pretty old, after all.

They both decided to inspect a bit more the place. Opening the cupboards proved little help. They were filled with dust and some old broken cutlery. Lea reached for the old sink, turning the knob, but obviously, nothing happened.

Lea sighed. "Damn. I was pretty thirsty, too…"

Ienzo closed the last cupboard, then closed it. "Doesn't look like there's anything in here that can help us."

"Yeah, doesn't look like it. Let's check somewhere else, then."

They went back to the foyer through the dining hall and reached the door on the opposite side. Opening it lead to a big living room. There were three couches around a big coffee table, the sunlight shining down on it. A fireplace was on the farther wall, in the perfect angle to be watched from the couches. In another corner, there was a table with chairs around it.

This room was much bigger, with a lot more places to search. They both started to look around, opening stuff, looking inside old books that were left lying around. As Lea was starting to think there wasn't anything in this room, he heard Ienzo call his name. He turned around and Ienzo was showing him some kind of parchment.

"It's a map!" he said, rare excitement in the boy's voice.

Lea grinned, almost sprinting to him. "Awesome! What does it say?!" he asked, looking over the boy's shoulder.

The map showed the manor. All around it was a large forest, but further South-West was a small unnamed town at the edge of an ocean, it seemed. This map was pretty old, but this town had to be still there! Surely, they could find people there, too!

"That's great! We know where to go!" he grinned. "Good job, Ienzo!"

The young boy gave him a small sheepish smile. "Should we go now...?"

Lea looked outside through the dusty window. Everything was coated in the orange light of the sunset. Nightfall was sure to come very soon.

"No. We better wait in the morning to go. The sun is setting, meaning it's almost night. Who knows what kind of creatures there's outside at night! We aren't in Radiant Garden, and everybody knows there are monsters everywhere outside the city! Or what if we stumble on those Heartless again? It's too risky!”

Ienzo nodded slowly, looking like a child guilty of breaking something. "Yeah, that's probably for the best. So what should we do?”

Lea sighed. The adrenaline was slowly fading out and his body was starting to feel sore all over, and he felt utterly exhausted. Not only it had been a while since he was able to move so freely, but the events that just transpired had been an emotional strain on his mind.

Everything was gone. Isa. Radiant Garden. His family. Everything had been destroyed. And now here they were, somewhere unknown, in an old abandoned mansion. Where even were they? How did they get here? Would Xehanort be able to find them, here? Would this place be destroyed too? What were they supposed to do? What the hell was that keyblade that appeared in his hand? He could feel all those questions pull at his mind in every direction.

"Why don't we try to get some sleep?” He decided. “I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted…”

At Ienzo's slow nod, Lea went and dropped himself on it, not caring about the cloud of dust that rose with the sudden weight being thrown on the cushions. He leaned his upper body on the armrest, using it as a firm pillow. He felt the weight of the couch shift as Ienzo climbed on the opposite side of the couch.

They stayed like that, in silence, for an unknown amount of time. It was like, for a moment, the time had stopped.

“Do you think other people managed to escape?” Ienzo asked, cutting through the silence.

Lea's eyes were glued forward, staring through the window toward the fluttering leaves in the wind. “I don't know…”

“I hope so…”

“Yeah, me too. And maybe we'll find someone in town?”

Ienzo didn't respond at that. Lea glanced at him from the corner of his eye, noticing his anxious, almost awkward, expression.

He sighed. “Let's sleep for now. We have a long trek in the woods, tomorrow.”

“…Okay.”

“Goodnight.”

Lea closed his eyes, curling his body in the most comfortable position he could muster from the corner of this old dusty couch. His body felt numb, the exhaustion settling itself deep in his bones. It wasn't long before he slipped into a restless slumber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few notes:
> 
> \- Lea and Ienzo traveled to Twilight Town by some kind of Corridor of Darkness teleportation. As Lea has been a test subject with things related to Darkness, he gained a few unknown (to him) powers.  
> -Lea also gained a keyblade because he fought back Xehanort's keyblade and an accidental Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony happened, much like Aqua and Kairi.
> 
> Both of those are not called upon willingly, but simply by a strong desire to do something.
> 
> We also tried to manipulate a bit the information we got from KH3 to still fit that headcanon of Lea and Isa being test subjects. It still makes sense, in our opinion, and we will keep that headcanon.


	2. Getting along

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... It's been a while, huh? You thought that fic was dead, huh? Well, it isn't! I just... Got a lot of stuff in the way.  
> Also, if you have read this fic a few months ago, you might notice that we are back to chapter 2 when I had already written the second chapter. Well, the thing is, during those months of hiatus, me and Ignie talked, and we decided (mostly me because I'm a big weak self-doubting idiot) to change a little bit the direction of the fic for the first few chapters. Also, I edited a lot of things in the first chapter (as of the 07/10/2019), so it might be a good idea to go reread it too... I'm really sorry about that.  
> Well, without further ado, let's get this show back on the road!

_The darkness was catching up with them. It was like a torrent of black water. Like hundreds of hands reaching for them. Like teeth wanting to devour them. His grip on Ienzo's hand tightened, pulling him so he would run faster. The little boy was whimpering in fear. He was lost. The hallways they were running through were familiar, but he couldn't recognize them. Yellow shiny eyes were everywhere, staring at them, waiting._

_The hand he's holding suddenly slip between his fingers, and he hears a thud as the body falls on the ground. Lea stops, turning around and running back, pulling on his best friend's collar._

_“C'mon, Isa, get up!”_

_It's warm and wet. He looks at his hand. They are covered in blood. His palms are stinging from the fresh wounds._

_“Where are you going, Lea?” HIS voice asks from the motionless darkness that enveloped them. “There is no escape.”_

_The floor starts moving, opening up like black quicksand, slowly devouring Isa's body. He grabs him, screaming his name, trying to pull him out to no avail. His grip is too slippery. His hands are covered by Isa's blood. He couldn't save him!_

_A hand gripped the back of his coat, pulling him up and lifting him in the air. It was Even, staring harshly at him with a twisted grin. With anger, he started struggling and yelling. His foot connected with the man's stomach, digging into his ribs. He was let go and fell. And fell. And kept falling. Everything became dark._

_He couldn't breathe anymore. As if the pitch-black darkness itself was filling his lung. The silence was deafening him, making his ears ring painfully. It was the same sensation that he had during Xehanort's experiments. He exhaled, bubbles coming out of his mouth. But he couldn't inhale again. He was suffocating._

_Something shone. A dim light in the distance, wavering and dancing before his eyes. It was the moon. He could see the moon through the surface of the water. With frenzy, he started to swim toward it. If he could reach the surface, he could breathe again. He kept kicking, arms flailing. The surface was so close, the light enveloping him in its soft rays._

_Claws dug into his leg, jerking him downward. He let out a surprised gasp, bubbles floating to the surface without him. Scared eyes looked down. There was a monster, black with empty yellow eyes clawing at his leg. But it wasn't any kind of monster. It was him. A dark and shadowy version of him trying to pull him back into the darkness. It jerked him down again, grabbing his arm this time, digging its other fingers into his back. He tried to struggle, to scream, but it wouldn't let go. He looked back up, reaching desperately for the light with his free hand. It was getting farther away again as this shadowy version of himself forced him back into the darkness._

_Suddenly, the keyblade appeared between his fingers. He looked at it, stunned. The light at the surface morphed into the shape of a keyhole. Without thinking, he pointed the giant key he had toward it, and a ray of light shot out of his keyblade, piercing the keyhole. An intense light suddenly poured out of it, growing until it blinded and surrounded him. He heard the dark version of himself shriek in pain, letting him go, and all the pressure vanished._

He gasped for air, sitting up with a start. He was vaguely aware of the sound of something falling down and a yelp, but he was too distracted by his panicking heartbeat and his short gasp for oxygen to pay attention to it. Cold sweat was running down his back and forehead, and his whole body was shaking. He put a hand on his chest. His mind was racing so fast that he couldn't form any coherent thought.

Two small hands curled around the one that was dangling at his side. He visibly jumped, his teary eyes turning to look.

“Lea, are you okay?” Ienzo asked, looking at him with worry.

He tried to speak, but all he could manage was stuttering sounds. Ienzo just kept holding his hand, concerned frown on his face.

His mind slowly caught up with everything. His escape, Radiant Garden falling into pieces, him and Ienzo being mysteriously transported to this abandoned manor. Was this all a nightmare? But everything had felt so real. He looked at his arm, trying to see the claw marks from this shadowy version of himself. But nothing. It really had been a nightmare.

He took a breath through his nose and gulped down the little saliva he had. “I-I… Sorry, I had a n-nightmare,” he explained. “Just a nightmare…” He forced a smile, looking back at Ienzo. “I'm fine.” He could feel his lips shaking as Ienzo kept frowning at him. “I tell you, I'm g-good! Don't worry about me! I'm a tough guy!”

“You don't have to lie for me, you know,” the boy said, his gaze never faltering as he stared right into his eyes.

Lea felt a shiver crawling on the back of his neck. Ienzo let go of his hand as he sat up completely, feet on the ground. He joined his hands together between his knees as he stared down. “It's just… a lot happened…”

There was a silence for a couple of minutes. It gave time to Lea calm down and get his thoughts in order. He looked outside, noticing that it was still twilight outside. It was strange. The sunset never lasted very long, it should be night by now. How long had he slept? It felt like forever. He looked over to Ienzo, noticing him rubbing his elbow.

“Did you hurt yourself?” he asked curiously.

Ienzo looked at him through his dropping bang, pouting. “You pushed me off the couch when you woke up and I fell on my elbow.”

Lea blinked, a bit taken back. “Oh. I'm sorry. How did I do that?” he asked, slightly confused.

“I was…” Ienzo looked away, looking embarrassed. “I got cold and I scooted closer to you. And I fell asleep on your arm…”

An amused smile appeared on his lips, but it only made Ienzo more embarrassed. He chuckled. This helped to push his unsettling nightmare at the back of his mind.

“It's fine, I don't mind!” he said in a cheerful tone, ruffling the kid's hair.

“Hey, careful! You'll put blood in my hair!”

Oh yeah, his hands were still wounded. He looked down at them more carefully. The makeshift bandages made by Ienzo were holding, but they were now completely tainted with his blood.

He looked at the window again and sighed. “Well, whatever how long we slept, it's still the evening. We can't really go, I guess.”

Ienzo nodded, his blue eyes staring up at him with an unreadable expression. “What do we do, then?”

“How about we look around some more, huh? Maybe we could find something interesting around here,” he proposed with a smile. “I mean, an old mansion like that is sure to have awesome secrets, no?”

Ienzo shrugged. “Sure.”

Lea's smile widened and he got up. He then noticed that Ienzo was missing something.

“Where's your lab coat?” he asked with a slight frown.

The boy pointed at the other side of the couch. “It has bloodstains on the back of it. It's gross,” he said flatly. “And it's all ripped at the bottom, now.”

Lea smiled sheepishly. “Oh, yeah, my bad. I'm sorry about putting blood all over it.”

“Yours is too. Your sleeves are all dirty.”

Lea looked down. He could faintly see a small layer of dried blood on the black sleeve of his coat. It would not be too hard to clean off, though, since it was made of some kind of leather.

“Yeah, you're right. Pretty gross, huh?”

He unzipped the coat and carefully pulled the sleeves off to not disturb his bandages, then threw it on the couch. Luckily, he was still wearing his white tank top under it. He missed his keffiyeh, though. It kinda felt naked without it around his neck.

“That's better!” he exclaimed with a grin. “Now let's go see what this place has to hide, okay?”

Lea pushed the door leading back to the entrance. They had already looked around the first floor. There was only the dining room, the kitchen, and the living room. So they went up to the closest staircase to the next level. Directly to their right was a lonely door, so they started there.

Ienzo let out an audible gasp as soon as they entered the room. It was library covered from wall to wall by books, except for the opposite wall that had a huge window that let them see the forest and the front yard. There was also a noticeable stone statue representing a unicorn head on a shelf close to the door. The younger one ran inside, looking around all the shelves with excitement. Lea rolled his eyes with an amused smile. What a nerd.

“That's a lot of books,” Lea commented, walking around and looking at the tall shelves. He picked a random book and opened it. It was still in a good state for being in an abandoned manor. Smelled a bit moldy, though. “Not as much as the library at the castle, though.”

Ienzo looked up from his own book and turned to him, lifting an eyebrow. “You went often to the castle's library?”

Lea shrugged. “I mean, I mostly followed Isa there. But I did enjoy the storybooks they had. Especially the heroic adventure stuff.”

All he got in response was a little “Ah” of disbelief.

He pouted exaggeratedly. “Hey, what is that supposed to mean?”

“You don't really seem the type who'd enjoy going to the library. You're just so loud and energetic,” Ienzo explained to him pretty flatly, like it was something obvious.

Lea rolled his eyes, amused. “I'd let you know that I can also be very lazy. But you're right, if it wasn't for Isa, I wouldn't have gone to the castle's library ever.” He smirked. “And if I hadn't, we would have never found a way to sneak into the castle.”

Ienzo looked surprised, then intrigued. “What do you mean?”

Lea chuckled, walking toward the center of the room and sitting down, putting the book he was holding beside him. Ienzo joined him, sitting beside him.

“Sneaking in the castle was easier than people thought,” he said, voice low as if they were conspiring in secret. “After all, the library was still inside the castle, and it was open to the public.”

Ienzo frowned. “Yeah, but Aeleus and Dilan were always guarding the entrance so nobody would go anywhere but the library.”

“True, but our way in was inside the library,” he answered with a proud grin on the face.

“How?”

Lea chuckled at the incredulous look on the younger one's face. “One afternoon, I was bored and just walking around, looking at random books. Then as I was at the back where they keep all the old dusty books that nobody ever read, I heard Ansem the Wise's voice as he talked to someone. I followed it until I found a ventilation grid behind the very last shelf. When I told Isa about it, he said that it must have been one of the ventilation ducts that went through the castle. We had seen spy movies where they snuck into a place using the ventilation, and I really wanted to try that out. So we decided to come back the next day with a screwdriver to open the grid and see if we could get in, and we totally did!”

Ienzo's eyes widen. “So that's how you two kept getting into the castle,” he said.

Lea's grin got wider. “Exactly!”

“But why? You always got caught, and for what purpose would you want to get in?”

He shrugged. “For fun? Who wouldn't want to sneak into a place you aren't supposed to? And we didn't always get caught. Sometimes we'd crawl back into the vent and leave through the library. We really got good at it! After a while, we even memorized the castle's layout!”

“But then, why did you two wanted to become apprentices?” the younger boy asked, tilting his head.

Lea rubbed the back of his neck. “We, uh… There's something we needed to do… Isa was very adamant about it, and I wasn't going to let him do it alone.”

Ienzo stared at him for a moment, waiting for more, but Lea didn't add anything. All that didn't matter anymore. They failed their goal, and now Isa was gone. The image of his lifeless eyes staring back at him as blood trickled down his face clearly in his mind. All that because they decided they wanted to go inside that dumb castle…

The boy wriggled his hands with a bit of nervousness. “I'm sorry…”

Lea broke out of his thoughts, looking up at him. “For what?”

“F-For… For Isa…”

He sighed. “Yeah. It won't bring him back, though…”

“Some… Sometimes,” he started, looking down and frowning as if he was thinking about his words, “terrible things can happen that are out of our control. And because of that, we can lose someone we love. But nobody has the power to predict what will happen. It isn't your fault if you couldn't save him. It's no one's fault…”

Something clawed inside Lea's chest at those words. “No one's?” he repeated, somewhat incredulously. His tone had turned almost venomous.

Ienzo looked back at him with shock.

“How is it no one's fault?!” Lea snarled, feeling searing anger rising up inside him. “Nothing would have happened if they didn't decide to use us and countless of other people for their sick experiments!”

“W-We were just trying to understand,” Ienzo justified. “It was t-to help…”

“TO HELP?!” the teenager yelled at the top of his lungs, getting on his feet and looking down at the other. “How is capturing people, torturing and killing them, any help?!”

The young boy looked shocked. “N-No. These people were sick because of the darkness. They were transforming into heartless. W-We were only trying to--”

“Bullshit!” Lea cut him off in anger. “If any of them became heartless, it's because of them! They were the ones to transform people into heartless for their own gain!"

“But Even said--”

“Even was a monster!”

“No!” Ienzo got up in turn. “Even might be a bit grumpy and rude, but he would never hurt me or anybody else!”

“Oh yeah?!” Lea pulled down the neck of his tank top, revealing rough black scars spreading from the middle of his chest. “What is that, then?! He's the one who did that to me! Him and Xehanort!”

Ienzo stared at his chest in shock. Tears were slowly filling his eyes. “No, you're lying!”

“They're all fucking monsters who participated in this!”

“Shut up!” Ienzo yelled, pushing him with all the strength in his tiny arms and running out of the library.

Lea was fuming. In a fit of rage, he grabbed one of the books laying on the ground and threw it to the wall. The pages all flew off from their binding with impact, fluttering down all around him.

How could he defend them? They were emotionless monsters who used people as if they were just lab rats! If anybody deserved to disappear, it was them! Not Isa, not his family, not the people of Radiant Garden. It was all their fault!!

…

Lea sighed, sinking to his knees. No, not everything was their fault. It was his fault that Isa died. It was him that found the ventilation entrance. It was him that wanted to go into the castle in the first place. It was him that dragged Isa to go back again and again, never giving up. If he had never done that, then they would never have become apprentices to Ansem the Wise, and they would never have been captured by Xehanort and the others afterward. And maybe Isa would still be alive. Hell, it should have been him to die, and Isa could have escaped! Why him?

Tears rolled down his cheeks. He hugged his knees, crying into them. He had no idea what he was doing. If Isa was there, he totally would. He was always the smartest between them. He always hated to be alone. It was so scary, to be alone and forgotten. To have nobody on which you can rely. He sniveled loudly, rubbing the back of his hand under his nose. He looked down to his hand, all wrapped neatly in its makeshift bandages.

…Right, Ienzo. He wasn't alone. He felt a twinge of guilt twisting in his heart. He probably shouldn't have yelled like that at him. He's just a kid. Obviously, they would lie to him. He never even saw him in the underground lab after they had taken them there. It must be hard to discover the ones you love are monsters…

He sighed. “I'm an asshole.”

He got up on his feet and looked through the window, noticing that it had gotten darker. The sky was getting progressively a dark blue, eating away the red light of the sunset. How long had he cried? He felt tired again.

He should probably find Ienzo before it gets too dark to see.

He left the library, looking around for any sight of the younger boy. He heard soft sniveling coming from downstairs. He followed the sound, bringing him back toward the living room. He slowly opened one of the big doors, poking his head in. Ienzo was curled up on the couch in a position very similar to his own when he cried. His whole tiny body was shaking as he sobbed in his knees.

Lea bit his lip, taking a step him. “…Ienzo?”

The boy suddenly froze.

“Look, I'm… I'm sorry… I didn't mean to upset you… I was wrong, okay?”

The boy stayed silent aside from the small whimpers that escaped his lips.

Lea approached further, coming closer to the couch. “I shouldn't have yelled at you. I was just… angry. I shouldn't have been, though, and--”

“Do you hate me?”

He was taken by surprise. “Huh? No, why?”

“B-Because I'm one of them… I'm the one who convinced Ansem to build that laboratory! I-I thought… They said they would use it to help people!” He started sobbing again. “I-It's all my fault!”

Lea sat down next to the boy. “No, it isn't. You didn't know. You couldn't have predicted what was their real intentions. As long you understand that what they did was horrible, then it's okay.”

Ienzo lifted his head a little, looking at him through his long bang. “Did they really… Did they really hurt you?”

“…A lot.”

“I'm sorry…”

Lea did his best to smile at him, wrapping his arm around him to give him a side hug. “You're forgiven, you big nerd.”

The boy whipped his nose with his wrist, sniffling hard. “You're not going to leave me, are you?”

“What? Why would I do that?” Lea asked, surprised.

“Because I upset you…”

“Nah, I wouldn't leave you just for that. If I did that, then Isa and I wouldn't have been friends for so long.” He let out a chuckle. “Besides, you're the one stuck with me. You can't get rid of me, now.”

A faint smile appeared on Ienzo's face. It didn't last long, though, as he turned his eyes toward the floor, thinking.

“What I told you earlier is the same thing Ansem the Wise had told me after I lost my parents…”

“…Oh.”

“I'm wondering… If they lied to me about what they were doing, could they have lied when they told us that Ansem the Wise went mad and ran away?”

Lea's eyes went wide at this realization. It's true that their king had just disappeared overnight. All they heard about his sudden absence was from the mouth of the other apprentices. And right after that, Dilan and Aeleus threw him and Isa into those cells.

“You don't think they…” He couldn't finish that sentence as he focused back on Ienzo, the boy who came to consider the man as his father.

“…Yeah.” Was his simple response.

A heavy silence stretched out between them as both of them processed their thoughts. It was all so much for two young kids like them.

“It's getting dark,” Ienzo suddenly said. “What do we do?”

Lea took a deep breath, looking around at the now darkened room. He could barely see the details of the room, now. “Honestly, I don't know…”

“Fine.” The younger boy shuffled next to him, leaning down to rest his head on Lea's lap, curling up against him. “I'm still tired. Let's sleep.”

Lea chuckled a bit. “Good idea. Let's do that.”

He put his arm around Ienzo's shoulders to hold him in a one-sided hug. As he closed his eyes, he hoped that things would go for the better for both of them. But as long as they stick together, surely they could get through anything that was thrown their way. As his mind faded out, he silently promised himself that he would make sure to protect Ienzo so he would be safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That nightmare was the thing I was stuck for weeks. WEEKS I TELL YOU.  
> But finally, I think I am satisfied with this chapter. After so many rewrites (Ignie was getting annoyed, I'm sure xD). I promise you it won't happen again. This time, anything posted will stay posted the way it was. And I hope you'll keep being with us along the way, no matter how long it takes me to get a new chapter out... ;w;

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked it, consider leaving a kudos and/or a comment. They motivate the authors to keep going!


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